Russian aid convoy crosses Ukraine border without government approval

Russia "invaded" Ukraine on Friday with a convoy of more than 200 aid trucks, without the approval of the government in Kiev.

The convoy reached Luhansk, the second-largest city in rebel-held eastern Ukraine, an area that has suffered intense fighting over the past several weeks as Ukrainian forces battled pro-Russia separatists.

Ukraine called the move a "direct invasion" that aimed to provoke an international incident.

The move sharply raised the stakes in eastern Ukraine, for any attack on the convoy could draw the Russian military directly into the conflict between the Ukrainian government in Kiev and separatist rebels in the east.